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SERMON, 



OCCASfONED 



BY THE DEATH 



OF 



ffii8 2Bvttlltnt& Mtmtt eitnton, 

LATE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF NEW-YORK. 



PREACHED IN 

ST. GEORGE' S CHURCH, J\\ Y. 

ON SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1S2S. 

— 0!©^— 

1/" 

BIT TH2 HEV. JAMES :AXIX.XT03, D.D. 

RECTOR OF SAID CHURCH. 

— ^!©©— 

PUBLISHED AT THE REQUEST OP THE VESTRY OF ST. GEORGE'S CHURCH. 

— QQ©— .. ' 

NEW-YORK 

PRINTED EY GRAY AND BUNCE, 224 CHERR1T-3TKEE.T. 

1828. 



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Monday Morning, Feb. 25, 1828. 
Rev. and dear Sir, 

The undersigned, having heard with the highest gratification and 
pleasure, the Sermon delivered by you yesterday morning, feel it a duty to 
acknowledge their sense of the judicious and happy manner in which you 
treated so delicate a subject. 

Desirous of extending the benefit of this valuable production to those who 
had not the privilege of being present at its delivery, and convinced that it 
would be to them a most acceptable favour, we are induced, as members of 
Vestry, to request a copy of the same for publication, 

We are, dear Sir, 

Your very sincere friends, 

JAMES D. L. WALTON, 
EUM. MOREWOOD, 
R. WARDELL, 
HUBERT VAN WAGENEN, 
THOMAS BLOODGOOD- 
JOHN STEARNS, 
THOMAS S. TOWNSEND. 
WM. SHATZELL, 
JAMES A. BURTUS, 
JOHN H. HILL. 
Rev. Dr. James Milnor. 



Gentlemen, 

The promptitude and unanimity with which you have requested a copy 
of the Sermon preached by me yesterday in St. George's Church are grateful 
to my feelings, as an expression of your approbation of a well intended, but 
feeble, tribute to the memory of our late excellent Governor. 

Although very sensible how far below the merits of its subject, this hasty 
attempt has fallen, I cannot refuse the call of the official representatives of 
my beloved people, for its publication, and therefore commit it to your dis- 
posal. 

I am, Gentlemen, your obedient servant, 

and affectionate pastor, 

JAMES MILNOR. 
Messrs. James D. L. Walton, &c. 

Churchwardens and Vestrymen of St. George's Church. 

February, 25, 1828. 



SERMON. 



Romans, xiu. part of 7th verse. 
" RENDER, THEREFORE, TO ALL THEIR DUES — HONOUR TO 



WHOM HONOUR." 



The kingdom of Christ is not of this world. 
It is spiritual ; and the place of its erection is in 
the hearts of men. It outlives the limited term of 
human existence on earth, and its objects transcend 
in dignity, as in duration, all the inferior, transitory, 
concerns of the present scene. 

Yet the subjects of Christ's government, while 
they owe a paramount allegiance to Him, and are 
principally concerned in rendering obedience to 
his laws, in extending his hallowed empire in the 
world, and in preparing to exult with all his faith- 
ful people in the final triumph of their heavenly 
king, are also the subjects or citizens of various 
civil governments, and amenable to human laws. 
And, therefore, in that complete directory of reli- 
gious, moral, and social duty, presented in the sa- 
cred Scriptures, the relative obligations of those 
invested with the office of rulers, and of those who 
are subject to their sway, are delineated and urged 
with a clearness and force, alike calculated, on the 



one hand, to maintain the claims of just authority, 
and on the other to promote the safety and happi- 
ness of the people. 

Do we desire to know what should be the cha- 
racter of men elevated to official stations in the 
civil community? We are told, they should be 
" able men ; such as fear God ; men of truth, hat- 
ing covetousness." Do we desire to know in what 
manner they should discharge their official functions- 
We are told, they are " not to wrest judgment;" 
that their conduct is to be marked by the strictest 
rectitude and impartiality, not regarding the persons 
of men, having no undue respect to the poor, nor 
"honouring," to the subversion of justice, "the 
persons of the mighty." They are cautioned "not 
to take a gift," that is, to avoid that bribery and 
corruption which so effectually, " blind the eyes of 
the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous," 
and to fulfil all their duties " in t^e fear of the 
Lord, faithfully, and with a perfect heart." 

Nor are the obligations of the governed less lu- 
minously detailed and enforced. Legitimate govern- 
ment is to have their firm, united, and cordial sup- 
port. " Every soul is to be subject unto the higher 
powers," and " he who resists them" is declared to 
" resist the ordinance of God." Being " sent of 
Him for the punishment of evil doers, and for the 
praise of them that do well," those under their rule 
are required to be " subject, not only for wrath, 
but for conscience sake." " To Caesar," our Lord 



himself requires to be " rendered the things that 
are Caesar's." St. Paul rebukes, with severity, in the 
verses preceding'the text, a rebellious spirit ; and, 
in the peaeeable temper of the Gospel, in the pas- 
sage immediately before us, he calls on his fellow 
Christians, even under the arbitrary government of 
Nero, to " render unto all their dues, tribute to 
whom tribute is due, custom to whom custom, fear 
to whom fear, honour to whom honour." 

These counsels, rightly understood, are entitled 
to our unfeigned respect, our unreluctant conformi- 
ty; and there can be no impropriety, on suitable 
occasions, in a proper spirit, and with a worthy end, 
to our making such injunctions as the foregoing the 
themes of public observation and enforcement. 
They may have been sometimes prostituted to pur- 
poses alien from their original design; but it is a 
circumstance honourable to our holy religion, jhat, 
while it is mainly concerned about the interests of 
the soul, and of eternity, it is not unmindful of those 
connected with the present life, and provides ample 
and intelligent directions, primarily in regard to our 
duties to God, but subordinately in regard to every 
social human relation, both public and private. 

Occupied, therefore, as it undoubtedly becomes 
the ministers of Christ to be, in preaching the truths 
of his everlasting Gospel ; and rarely as it may be 
expedient for them to bring subjects of a secular as- 
pect before the people of their charge; yet there are 
occasions when topics of this kind may be suitably 



noticed. God forbid, that the pulpit should ever 
be the vehicle of party feelings, or the sacred func- 
tions of the ministry be prostituted to an engage- 
ment in the fluctuating politics of the day. It is 
hoped a sense of the dignity of their office, and the 
responsibilities to which they stand pledged, will 
preserve the ambassadors of Christ from thus de- 
basing their commission. If there should be any 
found willing so to dishonour their high and holy 
calling, I am persuaded, they would soon reap their 
merited reward in the unqualified condemnation of 
all the considerate and good. Still, however, every 
divine precept, whether it regard the destinies of 
eternity, or the inferior interests of time; whether 
it involve the homage due to the Almighty Ruler of 
all, or the obedience and respect due to those who 
are called in his Providence to preside over the af- 
fairs of men, may, in its turn, be used for public 
edification, and applied to profitable use. 

There have been times when that injunction of 
Paul to Titus has been seasonably urged in the 
sacred desk; — " Put them in mind to be subject to 
principalities and powers, and to obey Magistrates ;" 
and there have been times, when unrighteous and 
oppressive rulers have been addressed on the wicked- 
ness of their conduct, with a holy boldness, such as 
Paul himself exhibited before the tribunals of Felix, 
Festus, and Agrippa; or as Peter, and the other 
Apostles evinced, when the hand of tyranny would 
hare stopped them in their course of duty; but they 



Itrmly declared, " we ought to obey (Jod rather than 



men." 



In our free and happy country there is indeed, 
in general, very infrequent occasions for the interfer- 
ence of the Ministers of Christ in any matters that 
the most scrupulous conscience or the most fastidi- 
ous taste would deem an infringement on their pe- 
culiar functions. The people of our land are virtu- 
ally their own rulers. No hereditary claims to 
official dignity, or political authority, here exist. 
These are recognized only in the persons of those 
on whom the people have bestowed them. Our legis- 
latures are controlled in the enactment of laws by 
limits prescribed in written constitutions. At short 
stated periods they surrender their powers back into 
the hands of those from whom they were received? 
to be rewarded, if faithful, by their renewal; to 
sink into the rank of private citizens, if a discerning 
public disapprove their measures. The highest 
executive officer holds his station by no more per- 
manent a tenure. He is alike amenable to the 
people, and liable to be called to a relinquishment of 
his honours on the constitutional expression of the 
public will. That caprice, rather than exact wis- 
dom, should sometimes influence the judgment of 
a tribunal so variously constituted, is to be expected 
from the weakness and fallibility of man: But ? 
with all its unavoidable defects, never was there a 
plan promising a greater measure of the blessings 
of a good government, than that under which a gra= 



8 

cious Providence has cast our lot. Never was there 
a more efficient restraint on an inordinate spirit 
of ambition, or a desire of arbitrary power, than 
this resistless accountability of our public officers ; 
nor a more powerful security for the preservation of 
our liberties, civil and religious, than the ever re- 
curring exercise of the right of unbiassed suffrage 
on the part of the people. 

Brethren, I pray you to excuse allusions, which, 
I confess, would in general be more proper at other 
seasons, and in other places, than the present. But, 
when contemplating the distressing public bereave- 
ment just sustained, in the sudden removal of our 
late illustrious Chief Magistrate, it seemed impossi- 
ble not to think and to speak of institutions with 
which he was so long connected, which he loved so 
dearly, and in the conduct of which he was so dis- 
tinguished and patriotic an agent. When mourn- 
ing over such a loss, we may derive an admissable 
solace of our grief, and a motive for unmurmuring 
submission to the will of God, in our remaining 
blessings. Yes, brethren, in the midst of our regrets, 
we will forbear to render that honour which is most 
justly due to the memory of our departed ruler, 
until we have poured forth to Him who " divides 
to the nations their inheritance, and sets the bounds 
of the people," the overflowings of our gratitude, 
for his unnumbered benefactions. 

In the apprehension of all who believe, as does 
your preacher, in a special Providence, ever actively 



employed in the affairs of men, this is the true 
method of fulfilling the precept in the text. 

The first tribute of Honour is due to God for 
our temporal, no less than our spiritual, mercies. 
To wisdom imparted from above we owe our ad- 
mirable frame of civil government, and the equal 
laws which have emanated from the exercise of its 
legislative powers. To the protecting care of our 
watchful and Almighty Guardian we stand indebted, 
that the adversary of our race has not been per- 
mitted to incite in the minds of public functionaries, 
of any political designation, a disposition to invade 
the rights of the people on the one hand, or to with- 
hold, on the other, a fearless exercise of the powers 
intrusted to their charge ; that our various tribunals 
are seen administering Justice with laudable wisdom, 
purity and mildness; that we have known so little 
of the tumult, and so few of the other evils, sometimes 
attendant upon popular elections; that the supports 
of our civil and religious privileges continue solid and 
immoveable ; that our community is favoured with 
a most extraordinary exemption from oppressive 
pecuniary burthens; and that such an immense 
amount of intellect and exertion are, from year to 
year, employed in countless measures of internal im- 
provement ; while abroad our country and its insti- 
tutions are every where advancing in the estimation 
of the wise and good, and the American name be- 
coming a praise among the nations of the earth. 

B 



10 

Nor dare we overlook, nay we will record with 
livelier feelings of devout gratitude and praise, that 
grand moral machinery which the Spirit of Jehovah 
has put in operation, and his Providence is carrying 
on throughout our land, for the alleviation of hu- 
man misery ; for the education of the poorer classes ; 
for advancing the interests of science and litera- 
ture ; for spreading abroad the hallowed influence 
of revealed truth, by means of Missionaries, Bibles, 
Tracts, and Sabbath School instruction ; and for 
sending: forth to the most distant nations of the 
earth, the light of that blessed faith, on which are 
staked all the immortal interests of man. 

Does it not become the beneficiaries of blessings 
such as these to render the honour that is due to 
their great Bestower ? " Truly he hath not dealt so 
with any nation." " O that men would praise the 
Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works 
to us children of men." " Bless the Lord, O our 
souls, and forget not all his benefits." 

Nor let our praise expend itself in empty words. 
While with our mouths we confess the God, who 
" rules in the army of Heaven, and among the in- 
habitants of the earth," as the author and giver of 
all our good things, let us manifest the sincerity of 
our offerings of praise, for sincerity alone can give 
them value, by consecrating our hearts to his ser- 
vice, by cherishing a true faith in the rich mercies 
of redemption through his crucified Son, and by 



V 



II 

living habitually under the influence of that holy 
religion, from which all our other blessings derive 
their hope of perpetuity, without which they would 
soon be transformed into a curse. " Let us," I 
repeat, in the language of our Apostle, " render 
unto all their dues :" and in doing so, never forget 
that our first, and greatest, and most enduring tri- 
bute belongs to God. 

But the plans of Omnipotence are achieved by 
human instruments; and it is not inconsistent with 
the paramount claims of God to honour those whom 
He so highly honours, as to constitute them the 
agents of his benefactions to mankind. To those 
whom He employs to accomplish his designs of 
goodness, if faithful in the discharge of the func- 
tions committed to their trust, a subordinate mea- 
sure of gratitude and respect is justly due. They 
deserve to be honoured while they live; and when 
they die, a nation's tears may well bedew their 
graves, and grateful memory delight to perpetuate 
their fame. 

The remark is true in the most general sense. 
The occasion calls for its special application to such 
as have occupied distinguished public stations. And 
we do not hesitate to say, that to such a tribute of 
respect is due ; that to render it is consonant with 
the apostolic precept in our text ; and, so long as it 
exceeds not the merits of its subject, and derogates not 
from the superior reverence we owe to God, it con- 
travenes no principle of our holy faith. It is but 



12 

the payment of a well-earned debt, to praise the 
man whose ambition has employed itself in great, 
and excellent, and useful objects. It is not to the 
idle incumbent of hereditary honours; it is not to 
the man raised to distinction by base and treacherous 
artifice, or lawless force; it is not to one mistakenly 
elevated to a rank, which he disgraces by arrogance 
and pride, we are called to render honour ; but to the 
honest statesman, rising into public favour by inhe- 
rent worth, and patriotic effort, and constantly em- 
ploying his distinguished talents to the public good ; 
and to the memory of such a man we would advo- 
cate, without the smallest scruple, a munificent re- 
turn of public gratitude and praise. Flattery, the 
character of our holy religion, and of our civil 
institutions alike forbid. But where history has 
already recorded evidences of personal and official 
worth which time cannot obliterate, nor ingratitude 
itself deface, there can be no offence in eulogy. 

Such is the case of that illustrious man whom we 
have seen, with awful suddenness, cut down in the 
midst of his days, and of a career of public useful- 
ness in which few would venture to present them- 
selves as his competitors. We can say of Dewitt 
Clinton, not in the sycophantic spirit of Tertullus to 
Felix, but in the chastened soberness of truth, that 
41 by him we have enjoyed great quietness, and by 
his providence very worthy deeds have been done to 
our whole nation." Then let us give his memory 
its due. Let us render honour to whom honour 



13 

justly appertains. It is doing homage to virtue it- 
self to honour its possessor, and well deserved com- 
mendation of the dead may assist to excite the living 
to a noble emulation of his bright example. 

It is in this view, and under such impressions, that 
I feel a glow of grateful satisfaction, mingled with 
no ordinary sensibility, in according my feeble tribute 
of respect to the memory of the distinguished Chief 
Magistrate of whom our State has been bereaved. 
The events in which he bore a conspicuous part will 
fill a large place in the history of our Country ; and 
some faithful biographer, of talents commensurate 
to his noble subject, will hand down the name of 
Clinton to the admiration of a late posterity. 

In this place little more can be done than just to 
glance at a few of those prominent features of his 
character and life, to which more competent hands 
will hereafter give the illustration and expansion they 
deserve. 

Our late Chief Magistrate occupied in the literary 
world the acknowledged reputation of a fine 
Scholar. On the foundation laid in his Collegiate 
course, his excellent natural abilities, and regular 
habits of study, enabled him to rear a superstruc- 
ture of a brilliant order. Of the variety and extent 
of his knowledge, the various topics, which, in suc- 
cession, occupied his pen, and the rich current of 
his daily conversation, furnished decisive proofs. 
The many excellent institutions of our City and 
State, which he fostered with his patronage, and de- 



14 

lighted with his communications, evince his love for 
literature, science, and the arts ; and his interesting: 
messages at the annual Sessions of the Legislature, 
since he has filled the Governmental Chair, besides 
the exhibition of great acquaintance with the sub- 
jects they embraced, exhibit models of pure and 
classic composition. 

He was a distinguished Civilian and Statesman. 
Fully versed in the principles of political economy, 
and public law, to the republican Constitutions of 
our Country his native love of liberty gave the best 
affections of his heart, as the most powerful bul- 
works against its invasion. His intimate know- 
ledge of the resources of the nation, and of this 
member of it in particular, his almost intuitive per- 
ception of the most eligible plans for drawing them 
forth, at the cheapest rates, into the most efficient 
practical use, his minute and experimental informa- 
tion, especially as to the best means of enriching the 
community by the facilities of inland water com- 
munication, are subjects of commendation acknow- 
ledged by all. His accurate foresight of the happy 
result, which, thank God, he lived Ions: enough to 
witness, gave a spring to the employment of his 
strong intellect on this novel subject, and imparted 
vigour and perseverance in the prosecution of his 
views. The great works, in the planning and execu- 
tion of which he bore so pre-eminent a part, will be 
an enduring monument to his praise, and a grateful 
posterity will concede to his memory that of many 



15 

other undertakings of a similar character, which the 
present generation, or the next, under the smiles of a 
favouring Providence, will not fail to see accom- 
plished. This is not the place for enlarging on that 
great variety of evidence which the public life of 
Mr. Clinton afforded, of his talents as a statesman ; 
but it would be unjust not to add, that he was a 
patriotic statesman. Public utility and the people's 
happiness were the unremitting and disinterested 
aim of all his studies and exertions. He leaves no 
inheritance to his mourning family, but his virtues 

and his fame. 

He was too, in the best sense, a Philanthropist. 
His bosom expanded to the generous character of 
the age. His range of mind, his moral sense, his 
warmth of feeling, carried him beyond a contem- 
plation of the mere physical wealth and prosperity 
of the community in which he lived. He looked 
with intense anxiety to its growth in intellectual 
and moral grandeur. The more elevated seats of 
learning had his unqualified approval and support : 
But he considered our Common Schools as the great 
engines of popular improvement. In them a large 
proportion of the young and rising generation of the 
commonwealth were to receive their preparation for 
future usefulness. The competent maintenance, and 
multiplication and good conduct of these schools 
were therefore to him delightful objects of official 
and personal regard. His incessant exertions in 
their promotion o will never be forgotten, so long as 



16 

knowledge and virtue continue to be thought the 
best safeguards of liberty, and its attendant bles- 
sings. 

The melioration of our penal code, and the disci- 
pline of our prisons owe much of their present ex- 
cellence to his indefatigable efforts. But he viewed 
the prevention of crime as more desirable than its 
punishment, and the reformation of the offender 
as more humane and profitable than his excision. 
He saw especially in the universal diffusion of the 
lights of learning and religion, for he desired to see 
them indissolubly united, the best means of accom- 
plishing the first of these objects. He was no vi- 
sionary Philosopher. He amused himself with no 
dreams of social, or. individual, perfectability. He 
beheld man as a fallen, helpless, being, and with no 
more than a suitable regard to human agency in the 
developement and application of those collateral in- 
strumentalities for his improvement, which the 
goodness of God had placed within his reach, it was 
in the religion of Jesus Christ that he believed were 
centered the only adequate securities for the happi- 
ness, and best interests of man in his present, or fu- 
ture state of being. 

In this divine system he avowed both publicly 
and privately his firm belief: And, hence, he was 
ever ready to give the weight of his personal, and 
where it was proper his official sanction, to its in- 
stitutions. Yes ; amidst the clamours of infidelity 
Clinton shrunk not from the avowal of his attach- 



17 

ment to Christianity ; and though immersed in the 
varied cares of public life, he found a pleasure in 
affording his countenance and aid to the diffusion of 
its influence. 

Of that noble institution, the American Bible 
Society, he was long an honoured Vice-President ; 
and on more than one occasion greatly added to the 
interest of its anniversaries by occupying the place 
of its venerable President, the illustrious Jay, pre- 
vented by the infirmities of age from gratifying the 
Society, and the public by his presence. 

At its very last annual meeting, in an address, 
which the Society will delight to preserve on their 
records, as a memorial of their lamented patron, he 
pronounced " its end" to be " celestial." " It looks 
down," said he, " on man for his good, and it looks 
up to heaven for its blessing. It reverses the 
dreams of heathen mythology, and extends upwards 
the everlasting chain, which binds together the 
earth and the heavens. Like a shining: Pharos on 
a tempest-beaten promontory, it sends forth a saving 
light, which carries us securely through the storms 
that agitate our bark on the ocean of time. With 
such high destinies, with such exalted ends, who 
would not afford," he exclaimed, " the means of its 
preservation and perpetuation, and apply to its con- 
cerns the most energetic exertions of liberality and 
wisdom. There is nothing, " he added," in the ele- 
ments, in the composition, or in the administration 

of the Society, which ought to alarm the jealousy, 

C 



18 

or excite the suspicion of the most rigid sectarian, 
in religion, or politics. It was founded, and has 
been supported, by men of all creeds. It looks with 
an equal eye on all the humble followers of Christ; 
and it distributes, with an equal hand, the benefits 
which spring from its bosom. It acknowledges no 
superiority, but the superiority of piety and wis- 
dom, and it admits of no distinctions, but those 
which grow out of the improvement of human 
character. If its pedestal be upon earth, its apex 
reaches the heavens." 

In the same address he took an inspiring view of 
the events of the present day, as demonstrating, with 
irresistible force, the superintending Providence of 
God ; of their effect in enabling the new world to re- 
flect back the light which had been radiated upon 
her from the old ; and of the importance of giving 
a right direction to that archimedian lever, the press, 
by " infusing the principles of our holy religion into 
the movements of a power so mighty and transcend- 
ant:" declaring with solemnity, his persuasion, that 
" systems of general education, and a diffusive 
spread of Bible Societies were necessary for the 
tranquillity, good order, and liberties of mankind." 

Instead of offering an apology for the length 
of these quotations, on a subject of such deep in- 
terest, I will honour the memory of our deceased 
fellow labourer in this sacred cause, and its kindred 
objects, and encourage the hearts of its numerous 
friends now before me, by one other passage, which , 



19 

I pray God, may prove prophetic. " We are," said 
he " on the verge of events greater than the astonish- 
ino- ones, which have occurred within our times ; 
discoveries vast and stupendous. Institutions deeply 
connected with human melioration, and events of 
unprecedented character may be expected. The 
fountains of intellectual, moral, and religious light, 
which are now concentrated within comparatively 
narrow boundaries, will overflow the World ; and 
humanity, throwing off its fetters, and rising above 
its incumbrances, will be ennobled, as well as disen- 
thralled." You are all ready, I trust, Christian 
Brethren, to respond a hearty Amen to these joyful 
and scriptural anticipations. 

Time would fail to enumerate all the literary, 
religious, and benevolent enterprises, in which Mr. 
Clinton was associated. 

Of Sunday Schools he was a feeling advocate. 
He has often, and earnestly, recommended them to 
the support and patronage of the Christian public, 
and was rejoiced to attend their anniversary exhibi- 
tions. Speaking of that of the last year in this city, 
he said, the sight of the procession of the thousands 
of children of which it was composed, the pupils of 
Sabbath Schools, was " irresistibly calculated to ex- 
cite the tenderest sympathies of our nature;" and 
expressed his wish, that past success might teach 
their supporters, " the imperative obligation to act 
well their parts, and anticipate more momentous 
results." 



20 

Missionary and Tract Societies had also his de- 
cided approbation, and efficient countenance ; and 
he publicly expressed his earnest interest in the in- 
stitutions of the respectable denomination to which 
he was attached, for assisting destitute pious young 
men in their preparation for the Ministry. 

You perceive, that I have rather sought to state 
facts than employ myself in vague eulogy on that 
part of Mr. Clinton's character, which gives it a 
peculiar claim to notice in this place : And may I 
not call on those who have enjoyed personal inter- 
course with our beloved Chief Magistrate, or have 
witnessed his public communications, to testify, how 
meekly he bore his well earned distinctions, and 
what unaffected diffidence marked his whole de- 
meanour ; so that while, on the latter occasions, all 
regarded him as first among the throng, he seemed 
to think himself the least. 

In his private relations Mr. Clinton's character 
was such, as to make his loss too great to his family, 
even for a nation's gratitude to supply. May the 
mourning widow, and the bereaved children look 
to a higher source for the consolation which they 
need. May they find it in the bosom of that be- 
nignant Being, who has promised to be a father to 
the fatherless, and a husband to the widow 7 , and in 
the animating hopes of that blessed Book, which 
was believed in and loved by their departed pro- 
tector and friend. 

In closing my remarks on the character of this 



21 

distinguished man, I wish it not to be inferred that 
it was faultless. Exemption from frailty, and in- 
firmity, nay from sin, is not the attribute of mortal 
man; but that, in public and private life, his faults 
were obscured in the constellation of his virtues, 
will be admitted by those who observed him most, 
and knew him best. Future generations, in the 
review of his well told life, will acknowledge, that 
few men have lived so free from merited imputation, 
in his retired or offieial course ; few were ever 
followed to the grave with such universal, undis- 
sembled, poignant grief. 

I have finished my intended observations on the 
character of the great man whose death has inflicted 
so signal a calamity on our State and Country. I 
would not have so occupied your time, had I not deem- 
ed all that I have said, a just, though very feeble, 
tribute to departed worth ; one which your own esti- 
mate of its subject required to be rendered; one 
which, in letter and spirit, is a compliance with the 
apostolic precept in the text, " render to all their 
dues — honour to whom honour ;" one which would 
involve no infringement on the sanctity of this day 
or place, or the excitement of a single feeling con- 
nected with public controversies, which, as they 
have long ceased to agitate the bosom of your 
preacher, will never find a place in his public com- 
munications. 

I am free to confess my concurrence generally in 
the objections that have been made to the introduc- 



22 

tion of such subjects into the pulpit unadvisedly or 
lightly ; while I see not their application to such a 
case as that which has now employed us. I de- 
precate the alliance of Church and State, of which 
in this country there does not exist, as I believe, the 
remotest danger. I would, as promptly as any man, 
deny the obligation of obedience to the mandates of 
the civil authority, in regard to the performance of 
ministerial duty ; and, even in the case of a respect- 
ful request such as that made, I have no doubt from 
the purest motives, in the present instance, by the 
constituted authorities of the City, I would claim 
the right of determining for myself on the propriety 
and expediency of a compliance. But it is extremely 
difficult for me to see, why a man's having occupied 
a public station should exclude his memory from a 
mark of respect, which, I presume, all will admit, 
may sometimes be properly and profitably rendered 
to our departed friends. Such notices of men, whose 
lives have been distinguished by public usefulness, 
are not novelties, either in this country or abroad. 
Our libraries are full of memorials of this kind ; 
and the only apology I can make for the present, is 
a repetition of my solemn conviction, that, if it were 
ever proper, it is so in regard to the illustrious in- 
dividual, taken from the arms of his country by so 
sudden and unlooked for a dispensation of God's 
providence, and for whom a whole community is 
this day clothed in the habiliments of mourning. 



23 

A few words of improvement, and I will no 
longer trespass on your patience. 

1'. Let those who are called to fill exalted and in- 
fluential places in society, behold, in the bright ex- 
ample before them, the compatibility of religion and 
benevolence, and of an active engagement in their 
promotion, with the highest eminence of station. 
Who will aver that the public honours of Mr. Clin- 
ton were in the slightest degree tarnished, or his 
influence impaired, or his happiness abridged, by 
the employment of a portion of his time and talents 
in the promotion of moral and religious education, 
in the circulation of the inspired Book of God, in 
the preparation in learning of young men destined to 
become the public Teachers of Christianity, in the 
diffusion^by missions and tracts, both at home and 
abroad, of its glorious doctrines and inimitable pre- 
cepts, and even in that last charitable object of his 
enlarged mind, so humble in its appearance, but 
promising to be so blessed in its results, the estab- 
lishment of Infant Schools. God grant, that in 
greater numbers than at present, our public charac- 
ters, and our men of wealth and influence, may be 
found imitating his honourable example. 

2. Let us learn from this unlooked for providence, 
the precarious tenure by which we hold our choicest 
blessings. We fancied that in our late Chief Ma- 
gistrate we had much good j treasured up for many 
years. Not a few of those whose minds are occu- 
pied in public affairs, were hoping to see his sphere 



24 

of usefulness yet more enlarged ; and his vigorous 
and comprehensive intellect employed, not for the 
State merely, but the Nation. In a moment the 
least expected we have had a solemn demonstration 
of the uncertainty of all earthly good. We have 
been painfully taught how easily divine Omnipo- 
tence can frustrate human expectation ; that man may 
see " vanity" inscribed on his richest treasures, and 
possessions ; and learn, that there is no dependence 
for indestructible happiness but in the favour of God, 
and the hopes inspired by true religion. " As for man, 
his days are as grass ; as a flower of the field, so he 
flourisheth ; for the wind passeth over it, and it is 
gone, and the place thereof shall know it no more." 
3. Let us, under this, and every affliction, learn 
quiet and unmurmuring submission to the will of 
God. " He worketh all things after the counsel of 
his own will, and giveth not account of any of his 
matters." " His ways are not our ways, nor his 
thoughts our thoughts." Yet, when the mysteries 
of his Providence shall be unravelled, as they will 
be in the great day, which is to determine the final 
destiny of all men, it will infallibly appear, that " the 
Judge of all the earth hath done right." Let no 
present obscurity lead us to doubt, either the wis- 
dom, or the goodness, of his providential dispensa- 
tions. What we " know not now, we shall know 
hereafter." One thought however merits our atten- 
tion. Nations and States, as well as individuals are 
sometimes subjected to the chastening rod of the 



25 

Almighty for their sins. While we of this commu- 
nity bow submissively under this most afflictive 
stroke, it becomes us all, and more especially 
our rulers, to consider, whether it be not wise to 
avert further judgments by erecting new bulwarks 
against the inroads of licentiousness, and the deso- 
lating progress of vice and immorality : For, surely, 
there can be no promise of permanent security and 
happiness to any people, who allow, where it is in 
their power to prevent, the violation of God's laws. 
Lastly ; let this disastrous instance of the uncer- 
tainty of life teach us all, " so to number our days 
as to apply our hearts unto wisdom." Death spares 
neither rank, nor age. The efforts of this whole 
community, had it been possible, would have been 
put in requisition, to preserve the existence of him 
whose loss we lament. But " there is no discharge 
in this war." " The days of man are determined. 
The number of his months are with the Lord. He 
hath appointed his bounds that he cannot pass." 
" The dust shall return to the earth as it was, and 
the spirit unto God who gave it." In the awful 
suddenness of this event, let us see the urgent ne- 
cessity of habitual preparation for death. Time 
and opportunity for that special preparation, on 
which so many vainly calculate, it may be the plea- 
sure of God, as the punishment of procrastination, 
to deny us. Let us, then, disarm death of his ter- 
rors, by at once turning to God with full purpose of 



36 

heart. Repentance for sin, and faith in the sacrifice 
of Christ, attested by undissembled holiness of life, 
will not fail to draw down the pardoning mercy of 
God, invest us with the sweet enjoyment of inward 
peace, and prepare us for a blissful eternity. 



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